Manufacture of shoes



Feb. 6, 1940. R. E. HOPKINS MANUFACTURE OF SHO Filed Oct. 19, 1937 Patented Feb. 6, 1940 PATENT" OFFICE:

2,188,977 MANUFACTURE or snons Raymond Esflopkinsyweymouth, Mass, assignor 'to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Borough of Flemingto'n, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application October 19, .1937 seam. 169,814

I invention relates to improvements in "shoes and shoeparts and'to improved methods of makingjshoes. The invention is' herein illustrated with reference to its application to shoes having no inner sole members 'in' their foreparts, such shoes being commonly referred to as single-sole shoes. n f r Single-sole shoeshave the advantage of being mcre'flexiblethan shoes having inner and'outer '10 saleswhich are firmly secured together in acc'orrlance with conventional methods of shoemaking. In single sole shoes, as ordinarily constructedfhowever, the upper has a tendency" to pull away from the margin of the tread sole'be- 15 cause of the absence of an insole or other element overlying the-inturned lasting allowance of the upper and providing internal support for that part of the upper which is immediately abovethe lastingallowance, and thus the portion of the 20 upper referred to soon loses the shape initially imparted tovit-by the edge of thelast'bottomQ "Objects of thepresent'invention are to overw comethe' undesirable condition just referred to;

and to provide meansa single-sole shoe, for; permanently preserving-the contour of the upper in the regionwhere it was caused tobreakover the edge of 'the last bottom in the lasting operation. In one-embodiment of the invention herein illustrated the shoe comprises a tread sole, an upper having an inturned margin secured to the tread sole, and a sock'lining securedto the tread sole,

the sock'lining being soft and limp. throughout its greater portion but havinganarginalportion of substantial width which is relatively'stifl and 5 provides internal lateral support for the portion of theupper immediatelyadjacent to the inturned margin thereof/ The illustrated sock li'nmarginal portion only impregnated with a still?- ing iscut from soft, limp= leather having a grain surface at theside which is to engage "the foot and a flesh surface at its opposite side -.The

A shoe 'to' which my improved 'sock lining is to be applied may be made without an insole 'mem- 50 her in its forepart, as herein shown, and the tread sole may-be secured: in any well-known manner asby means of cement or stitches to the inturned lasting allowance of theupper after the shoe has. been otherwise completed. The sock'lining 55 isinsertedwithinthe shoe and isisecured in place by'means of adhesive such as rubber cement. Preferably, the adhesive is supplied only to that portion of the sock'lining which is within the stiffened margin thereof in the forepart of the lining so thatfthe unstiifened' portion only of ,5 the fo-repartlining will be secured to the tread I sole of the shoe. Thus, the stiffened marginal portion will remain unattached to the shoe bottom and this will'not impart'even the slightest degreeof stiffness to the latter. The cementing of the unstiffened portion of the forepart of the sock lining to the shoe bottom, however, will result in the lining being held securely in place in such a manner that its stiffened marginal portion will effectively resist any'edgewise thrust tending 7 to distort it and will thus act as an outline preserving element 'affording the desired internal support for the upper so'as'to retain the shape of v the latter and prevent it from pulling away from the edge of the tread' sole. In cases where the socl: linings aret'o' he used in shoes ,of the openshank sandal type or other shoes the uppers of which are cut away so as to expose edge portions of the shoe bottoms, it is preferred to stiffen the margins of the 'socl z linings with a liquid con- '25 I taining a coIOred-stifiening substance and thereby to color and consolidate the fibers of the leatheratthe edges ofthel'ihings so that the edges will presenta smooth and finished appearance where theygare exposed to view in the Considered in another aspect invention is to be recognized as residing in'animprovement in shoemalcing which'consists in making a shoe without an insolein its forepart, providing a B5 sock lining of soft,- limp material having itsening substance and thereby rendered relatively stiff, applying adhesive to one side of that portion only of the" sock lining which is located in 40 wardly of its relatively stili marginal portion, inserting the sock lining within the shoe with its adhesive treated surface facing the bottom of the shoe, and pressing the sock lining into intimate Contactlwith the shoe bottom thereby securing :le unstifiened portion only of the sock lining to the shoe. F r The invention will he explained with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which I Fig. 11 is. an elevational view of a portion of a coating machine illustrating the'application o'f 'astifiening solution tothe marginal portion of a sock lining;

l Fig; 2. is a perspective view ofasock lining the 55 v Fig. is a perspective view of a single-sole shoe in the course of manufacture;

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a shoe as it appears after a sock lining has been appliedi Fig. 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the shoe showing stitches for securing the tread sole to the upper; and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of an open-shank shoe having my improved sock lining therein.

In the manufacture of my improvedshoe I employ a full length sock lining I2 which'is composed of soft, limp material, preferably upper leather such as kid, and which has a smooth grain surface it at the side which is to be next to the foot and a soft flesh surfacelfi at the opposite side. The sock linings are of the usual shape and are formed fromsheet'stock by die-cutting operations which are carried out in the usual manner. To adapt the sock linings toserve as means for supporting the uppers so that the latter will have no tendency to pull away from the soles of single-sole shoes I prepare the linings by applying to the marginal portion only of each lining atythe flesh side'thereof a coating H? of a suitable liquid stiffening substance, such for example as a solution of rosin,--the coating being applied at the forepart only of .the sock lining, as indicatedin Fig. 2, or at the forepart and shank portions, as indicated in Fig. 3. Preferably, the stiifening solution employed is of such a character that it will strike inwardly from the flesh surface. of the lining and will penetrate nearly but not quite to the grain surface thereof, M I

[ the-cement has setto causethetreadsole'to ber 1 come permanently attached to the'shoe bottom..

it being desirable to leave the grain surface entirely unaffected by the solution so as to avoid staining or marring it in such a vmanner as to detract from its appearancein the shoe. The solution, however, will impregnate the sock lining sufiiciently so that whenit has become dry it will stiffen the marginal portion of the lining so as to enable it to perform its intended function. As shown, the sock lining is stiffened throughout a marginal area of substantial width sothat after the lining has been secured in place within the shoe its marginal portionwill not be readily distorted by any edgewise pressure applied thereto. l

The stiffening coating may advantageously be applied-to the sock lining by means of a coating machine such as that disclosed in United States. Letters Patent No. 1,851,162, granted March 29, 1932, upon application of J. W. Cosgrove. In the use ofsuch a machine, as illustrated in Fig. 1, the stiffening solution is applied to the sock lin-' ing by means of a roll 29 while the marginal portion of the lining is supported upon a feed roll 22 and while the lining is guided and located relatively to the roll by means of an edge gage zii.

Marginally stiffened sock linings prepared as herein described may be applied tosingle-sole shoes made in accordance with any Well-known method of manufacture, an example of a suitable method being that disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 2,063,175, granted December-8, 1936, upon application of J. C..Lisbon, Sr. In ac-' cordance with this particular method'and'as'illustrated in Fig. 5, an upper 28 is assembled upon a last 30 having upon its bottom face a' temporary forepart lasting piece 36p'rovided with marginal lasting ribs 38 and having also a heel andshank piece 32 which, has marginal lasting ribs 34, and the feather portions of-whioh have been previously roughened and coated with ce- 2 ment such as pyroxylin cement which has been lasting piece 36 is located the cement is applied only betweenthe'plies of the upper; The'cement on the heel and shank piece is thenactivated by a suitable solvent thus preparing the shoe. for;

thelasting operation. In lasting the upper its marginal portions are wiped inwardly against the lasting ribs-34 and'38 and are temporarily secured to the ribs by means of staples, thestaples 1 serving to hold the upper during the setting of cement. After the cement has become set upper V trimming operations are performed as-a result of which excess upper materials andthe lastingribs 34 are removed in thesh ank portion of the shoe 1 while in the forepart the overlasted upper is cut 3 in such a way as to separate the portions which are secured-to the ribs 38 from those whicheverlie the bare surface of the last bottom. ,-There after, the temporary forepart lasting 'piece 36 is removed, thus removing, also the ribs- 38 and the excess portions of the upper-materials-and-expos-. ing the bare last bottom at the forepart of the' last.- I The overlasted marginal portions; of the upper are next prepared in the usual manner for the attachment of h a tread soled!) thereto by I means of cement, thetread sole'is laidin positionon the shoe bottom andpressure-is applied toforce, the sole against the cemented portions 1 of the upper, the pressure being maintained until u The tread sole may, if .desired',. be attached by through-and-through stitches as shown in Fig. '7. It will be noted that the'finished shoe has no.

insole member in its forepart thus renderingit I much more flexible than if it had bothinsoleand only means for outsole membersinits forepart,

, If cement is employed'as the attaching the tread sole to the shoe, thesole will have been permanently attachecl and the shoe completed, ex'cept for the application of the, sock lining, before the last is rernove'dfrom: theshoe.

ployed tosecure the tread sole to the'shoe', the last, of course, will have to'be removed before the stitching is done. In either casethe sock lining is not applied until after the last has beenremoved from the shoe-and the shoe hasf'been.

otherwise completed. A quantity'of-sock linings,

the marginal portions of which have reviously j bee-n stiifened as hereinbefo re explained, are

coated at their flesh sides with cement, for'ex-I ample, rubber latex, at some time prior totthe time when they are tobe. used and the cement is allowedv tov set until it has become tacky so that v it will be in a condition to adhere readily to. the

shoe bottom. The cement may .be-'-*ap-plied to the entire fieshside of the lining-or preferably it may be applied only-to that portion ofthe flesh the. cement isindicated at5.42.. Thecernented and marginally stiffened sock lining may be inserted the shoe with the aid of a stick having a sharp point at its end for impaling thetoe portion of the lining. The stiffened margins at and near the toe portion of the lining serveto make the lining self-sustaining and thus. assist materially in the operation of inserting it into the proper position. After being inserted the lining is pressed down into intimate contact with the shoe bottom by the fingers of the operator and-the stiffened marginal portion of the lining helpsto insure that the lining Will lie smoothly in place.

Moreover, the lining will have no tendency to curl upwardly nearits edgesduring the wearing of the shoe because of the stiffness of its marginal portions. vThe stiffened marginal portions of the sock lining will offer a very substantial amount of resistance to any endwise thrusts communicated thereto by the upper and thus the sock lining will constitute an internal support for that portion of the upper which is immediately above theinturned margins thereof and will effectively prevent that portion of the upper from being forced inwardly or pulled upwardly away from its desired close relation to the margin of the tread sole; The lining will function in this manner whether its entire flesh surface or only the unstiffened portion thereof has been cemented to the shoe bottom. While the stiffened margin of the sock lining will resist any edgewise thrust tending to, crumple or displace it, it will notbe sufficiently stiff to interfere to any substantial extent with the upper flexing of the shoe bottom even if the stiffened marginal portion of the lining has been cemented to the latter. On the other hand, if the stiffened margin of the lining is left uncemented to the shoe bottom in accordance with thegpreferred practice, the shoe bottom, as a practical matter, will not be stiffened to any extent by the presence of the prepared sock lining therein.

As already mentioned, the solutionemployed for stiffening the margin of the sock lining penetrates into the substance of the lining nearly to the grain surface thereof and in casethe sock linings are to be used in shoes the uppers of which are cut away in portions adjacentto' the bottoms of the shoes as, for example, in open shank sandals, it is preferred to employ in the stiffening solution a coloring substance the color of which will match or harmonize with that of the upper. .Thus, as the stiffening substance penetrates into the sock lining, including the edge face thereof, it will color or stain the edge face. In addition, the fibers of theleather at and near the edge of the lining will be consolidatedas a result of the stiffening or binding characteristics of the stiffening solution. Thus, the sock lining, instead of having the usual uncolored raw edge which is more or less rough and fuzzy, will have a smoothly finished edge which. is colored to harmonize with that of the upper so that no additional finishing operations need be performed upon the edge of the lining to improvethe appearance of the shoe. The application of a sock lining I20, the margins of which have been stiffcried and the edges of which have been colored and finished by the use of colored stiffening material, is illustrated in Fig. 8 wherein is shown a sandal comprising a tread sole 40, a heel 4|, upper members 44 and 46,'a heel and shank piece 48, and a sock lining I20, the edges of which have been colored and finished by the use of colored is unimpregnated with said edges of the sock lining are exposed in the open shank and heel portions of the shoe. As shown,

an edge binding 52 has been applied to the edges of the heel and shank piece 48 to provide a suitable finish for the latter.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is: l

1. In a shoe having no insole in its forepart, a tread sole,.an upper having an inturn'ed margin secured to said tread sole in the forepart of the shoe, a sock lining of leather having a finished grain surface at its upper side and an'unfinished fiesh surface at its lower'side, said lining having the marginal portion only of its forepart impregnated from its lower side nearly but not quite to its upper side with a stiffening substance and thereby stiffened to an extent sufficient to provide internal lateral support for the portion of the upper immediately adjacent to said inturned margin without changing the character of the marginal portion of its grain surface, the

unstiffened portion of said sock lining being soft and limp so as to have no stiffening effect upon the shoe bottom, and said unstiffened portion only of the lower surface of said sock lining being secured to the shoe.

2. A shoe having a bottom comprising only a single layer of sole material in the forepart of the shoe, an upper having inturned marginal portions secured to said bottom and having portions cut away adjacent to said bottom, and a sock lining of soft, limp leather having an upper grain without however affecting the color or finish of said grain surface.

3. 'A sock lining comprising apiece of soft, limp leather having a grain. surface at one side and a flesh surface at the op'positexside, the marginal portion only of the sock lining being impregnated grain surface with a stiffening substance whereby said marginal portion is stiffened but the grain surface is, unaffected by said substance, that portion only of the flesh surface of said lining which substance being coated with adhesive. for securing the lining in place within a shoe.

4. That improvement in methods of shoemaking which consists in making a shoe without an insole in its forepart, providing a sock lining of soft, limp material having its marginal portion only impregnated with a stiffening substance and thereby rendered relatively stiff, applying adhesive toone side of that portion only of the sock lining which is located inwardly of said relatively stiff marginal portion, inserting said sock lining within the shoe with its adhesive treated'surface facing the bottom of the shoe, and pressing the sock lining into intimate contact with the shoe bottom thereby securing the unstiffened portion only of the sock lining to the shoe.

RAYMOND E. HOPKINS.

from its fiesh surface nearly but not quite to itsv 5o 

